Save the Clock Tower!
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"Save the clock tower! Save the clock tower! Mayor Wilson is sponsoring an initiative to replace that clock. Thirty years ago, lightning struck that clock tower, and the clock hasn't run since. We at the Hill Valley Preservation Society think it should be preserved exactly the way it is, as a part of our history and heritage!"
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"Thank you for your support. We appreciate your 'cache' donation. Don't forget to take a flyer and read about the clock's history!"
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Hill Valley Telegraph, November 14, 1955
Hill Valley’s landmark Clock Tower was struck by lightning during the weekend’s freak electrical storm. The lightning bolt fused the clock’s internal mechanism and stopped the clock’s hands, perhaps permanently, at 10:04 PM.
The strike occurred during the peak of the unexpected lightning storm. Experts and city officials have been surveying the damage since yesterday morning, and it was not yet clear if it could be repaired.
“It’s difficult to say at this point,” said Brad Carter, the clock’s chief custodian. “The lightning bolt fused a lot of the old clockwork, and we’re investigating the possibility of repair. Personally, I can tell you that it doesn’t look good. I’d be surprised if we ever got it working again.”
The peculiar failure of the building’s lightning rod is under investigation. Under normal circumstances, it provides sufficient electrical grounding to safely and harmlessly absorb lightning strikes. Investigators found the rod had somehow become completely severed from the grounding circuit. Theories as to how this happened have not been forthcoming.
“It’s the darnedest thing,” said electrician Murray Graham of Gus & Andrew’s Electrical Repair, Inc. while assessing the damage. “I’ve seen plenty of lightning strikes in my day, and I know that if this hit wasn’t grounded at all, you should have had damage to a lot more than just the clockwork. Where the heck did all that extra power from the bolt go?”
Graham isn’t the only expert mystified by the circumstances. Local scientist Dr. Emmett Brown had been conducting a delicate experiment during the strike and narrowly escaped injury as his invention met an untimely end.
“I was performing a trial of some new specialized weather-sensing equipment, of my own design, and the lightning struck at the precise moment to, well, destroy it,” said Dr. Brown as he collected the scorched remains of some cables from the area last night. “I did manage to gather some, shall I say, extremely promising data regarding my work, but sadly it will be a long time before I’m able to undertake that particular experiment again.”
The clock’s future may be uncertain, but its past is well-documented. It was ceremonially started during a town festival at 8:00 PM, September 5, 1885, and installed in the courthouse when the building was completed. The Mayor dedicated the clock to the people of Hill County with a proclamation; “May it stand for all time.”
Cache info: At the final location, you will be looking for a 30 cal. ammo can. Cache contains a log, pen, swag, and a brand new Gold Hot Wheels DeLorean for a FTF prize! Area can be busy at times, so please use stealth!
Good luck and have fun!!
This cache was placed in conjunction with Norfolk's Big Day of Events:
GC31ZNA GC31ZQ0 GC31ZN7
Cache was published early to allow participants a chance to solve.
Congrats on FTF to: BBM&J on 10-29-2011
